What the Hell is Going On?
by RyleeBeth
Summary: When Jackie joined the group, she never thought she'd date anyone besides Kelso. Especially not Eric Forman. It all started the day Eric came over to check on her when she was really sick. Set after finale and is slightly AU.


_So I love Jackie/Hyde, but I also really love the idea of Jackie/Eric and since it was never really explored on the show I thought I'd play with it on fanfiction. This first chapter takes place about a week after the finale and Jackie and Fez never started dating. Reviews make me happy!_

Eric Forman was lonely. After returning from Africa, he was happy to be embraced by his old friends again, but almost all of them had shortly went their separate ways. Kelso was back in Chicago working to support Brooke and Betsy, who was supposedly his girlfriend again, and Fez had followed him there. He had no idea why Fez was following, but maybe Kelso and Fez were just inseparable. Hyde had moved into an apartment not to far from his house, but it still wasn't the same as it was before. Donna had just started college at a place that was about an hour away. Their relationship had yet to be addressed since their kiss on New Years Eve. Of course, his situation with Jackie hadn't changed as she was still living in Donna's house, but they're friendship had never been rock solid or very deep.

Still, even though they had never really been the best of friends, he was lonely and could use a little advice in how to talk to Donna, so he had decided to go see Jackie. He felt awkward just dropping in, so he went to the phone and called Donna's house. (She didn't live there anymore, but he was used to things being that way.) A weak voice greeted him on the other end of the line.

"Hello?"

"Jackie? Is that you?"

"Who else would it be, Eric?"

"You just sound a little off. Is everything ok?"

"I'm sorry for snapping at you. I get cranky when I'm sick."

"Is Bob there, because he usually picks up the phone."

"No, why, you actually want to talk to him?"

"Not at all, but you shouldn't be home alone if you're sick."

Eric heard a few harsh coughs on the other end of the line before a weak assurance that she was fine and would be ok being home alone until Bob got back from the grocery story.

"Maybe I should come over and check on you. You sound awful. Besides, I'm bored out of my mind, Jackie. I miss people eating my food and living in my basement."

"Eric, that's really sweet but I don't think it's necessary. It's just a c-c-cold," she stammered.

"Jackie, are you shaking?"

"Eric," she managed before going into a coughing fit that sounded extremely painful. Eric could hear her struggling to regain her breath and decided that enough was enough. Taking care of a sick person wasn't exactly how he planned to spend his day but he had nothing better to do and he would feel guilty leaving Jackie alone in her condition. (And when Bob got back, he'd feel guilty leaving her with him while she was so sick.)

"I'm coming over," he announced.

"You don't h-have to," she rasped before yet again coughing violently.

"I'm leaving right now," he said urgently, hanging the phone and heading out the door before Jackie could protest. He walked quickly over to the neighboring house and knocked on the door. There was no answer and he was just about to knock again when he heard soft footsteps. A few seconds later the door opened and Jackie had her arms crossed, her attitude trying to say _I told you not to come, _but wasn't quite pulling it off as a result of looking (and obviously feeling) so horrible.

Her hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail (Jackie's hair was never messy) and she was still in her pajamas even though it two in the afternoon. She was as white as a ghost from the stupid movies he watched with Kelso. She was lightly shaking and she looked like she had trouble just standing.

"Can I come in?" Eric asked softly, knowing that he'd enter the house no matter what she answered. There was no way in hell he was going to leave with her looking like she did.

She nodded before squeezing her eyes shut tightly.

"Jackie?"

He gently closed the door before moving towards the girl, who was starting to sway on her feet. He put his arms out to steady her, his hands going on either side of her tiny waist. She groaned, still not opening her eyes or saying anything.

"Let's sit you down, ok?

Her eyes suddenly popped open and she blinked several times, trying to focus her vision on the worried boy in front of her, but she just couldn't. She felt him gently helping her move towards a blurry red object, which she assumed was the couch. She appreciated him trying to help her sit down but felt her head start to spin rapidly and realized she probably wouldn't reach the couch.

"Catch me," she muttered.

"What?"

Before she could repeat what she had said, everything started to fade to black and she prayed that Forman would catch her. Eric felt Jackie's feet start to slide forward and her leaning back against him. He threw his arms around her and squeezed tightly to hold her up. The last thing she heard was Eric frantically calling her name. Jackie's body went limp in Eric's arms and he panicked, not knowing what to do.

"Jacqueline Beulah Burkhart, if you're unconscious you're going to be in a lot of trouble, young lady. Please, just answer me."

Sighing after a moment of silence, Eric accepted that yes, Jackie had indeed passed out. He briefly deliberated his options before opting to carry her back to his house. His mother was a nurse, after all. Plus, when Donna's dad came back, he would probably be of no help and just make things worse. Eric shifted his arms so that he could lift Jackie up and hold her steadily. Even though Eric wasn't the strongest of guys, Jackie was tiny enough to be light in his arms and easy to carry.

He walked the short distance to his house as fast as he could without jostling her, wanting to get her inside and out of the cold winter air. He figured that letting her freeze over would just make things worse. Once they were inside his house he called for his parents but remembered they were both at work. Sighing, he carried Jackie up the stairs, laid her down on his bed, and sat down next to her.

"Jackie, can you hear me?"

In fact, she could hear him quite clearly. She could hear everything, but she just couldn't see anything yet or find her voice to answer him. She was starting to get frustrated with the whole being unconscious thing.

"If you can hear me, I'm going to go call my mom and ask her what the hell I'm supposed to do when someone's this sick. I promise I'll be right back, Jackie."

Eric went back downstairs and called the nursing station at his mom's hospital, asking to speak to his mom. The lady on the phone was very nice and said that his mom was in the middle of helping out with an emergency, and that when she was done, she would have her call him. He thanked her and replied "sort of" when she asked if it was an emergency. Before he headed back up the stairs, he grabbed a bottle of water for Jackie.

When he walked into his bedroom, he noticed that she was still out, but fidgeting one of her hands a little bit. He set the bottle of water down on his nightstand and grabbed her moving hand and started playing with her fingers.

"I changed my mind. You're only going to be in trouble if you don't wake up soon… like really soon, like right now, actually."

"Eric?"

"I'M MAGIC! I mean, yes Jackie it's me. I'm right here," he said, wiggling her fingers around a little bit more.

"Where am I?" she asked as she slowly opened her eyes, earning a relieved smile from Eric.

"In my bedroom," he answered; not realizing that with the smile Jackie might take his words the wrong way.

"Did we have sex?" she cried, turning even paler than she already was.

"Jackie, you passed out-

"You took advantage of a drunk girl?"

She was becoming horrified and enraged. If she wasn't feeling so weak she would have smacked him, gotten out of his bed, and stormed out of his house. She tried to sit up, but Eric lightly pressed her shoulders back down onto the bed.

"RAPIST!"

"Shhh! Jackie, please just let me explain. We didn't have sex or any other kind of physical relation. You weren't drunk when you fainted. You're really sick, Jackie. I was bored and was going to come over to your house to ask you for help with something and I called you to tell you I was coming. You sounded really bad over the phone; you were coughing and all, so I said I was going to go make sure you were ok. You protested and said you were fine but you were coughing _really hard_ and I could tell you were shaking so I went over anyway. When I got there you let me in and you looked like you were about to collapse, so I tried to help you sit down but you said something I didn't really hear and then you passed out. I figured you wouldn't want Donna's dad around so I carried you back here and put you on my bed, no sex involved."

"Oh… that explains things. I'm sorry for freaking on, then. Ugh. I was about to say this was the worst hangover ever, but now I know it's not a hangover. I have a feeling this will go away a lot slower than if I was hungover."

"It's ok. If you're going to sorry for anything be sorry for like dying in my arms."

"Alright then, I'm sorry for dying in your arms," she chuckled weakly. She groaned a little bit and Eric decided that it wasn't time to joke just yet. He squeezed her hand and looked down at her.

"Jackie-

He was interrupted by the shrill ringing of the phone down in the kitchen.

"It's probably my mom. She'll tell me how to take care of you. I'll come right back up after I talk to her. Don't move."

He ran back stairs to get the phone before it could go to the answering machine.

"Mom?"

"Eric! My baby! They said you were sort of having an emergency! What the hell is going on?"

_As I said, reviews make me happy._


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